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31.03.2017 - Swiss Post plans to use drones for the Ticino hospital group Lugano

Swiss Post, the EOC hospital group in the Swiss canton of Ticino and the drone manufacturer Matternet are implementing the commercial use of drone logistics. It concerns an activity in which modern delivery drones will regularly carry lab samples between two hospitals in Lugano. Since mid-March 2017, the Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) inspects the drones and then the first test flights will take place. As soon as the relevant approvals have been obtained, the three partners will present the project in detail.Swiss Post first tested the use of drones in logistics together with Matternet in the summer of 2015. Swiss Post is now going one step further by starting a test phase for the first commercial use with the EOC (‘Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale’) hospital group in the canton of Ticino. The use of drones will ensure the exchange of lab samples with regular flights between the two EOC hospitals in Lugano – the ‘Ospedale Italiano’ and the ‘Ospedale Civico’. This will ensure that samples will be transported more quickly and efficiently in future.